The Legend of Zelda: Duel of the Fates
by XeroKitty
Summary: Hyrule Castle has fallen to Ganon and the Gerudo. A baby is spirited away in the night by a loyal guardian. The world falls into chaos and only one Hylian town left is left untouched. Here, two orphans of fate live with only each other to survive.
1. The Fall of Hyrule Castle

_**The Legend of Zelda: Duel of the Fates**_

_The author's personal opinion of what the newest Zelda game should be._

**WARNING: **Slight OOCness of characters, and I'm twisting the law of the Gerudo around a bit, so if you're unhappy with slight tweakings, please don't read it and get upset at me. I love LoZ, I promise. There also might be cursing, but not from Link because, well, he never talks.

**DISCLAIMER: **All main characters, races, locations, and names are property of Nintendo and their original creator: Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Ruto, Nabooro, the Goddesses, the Triforce, Hyrule, Gerudo Valley, Lake Hylia, Death Mountain, Kakariko Village, Kokiri Forest, the Great Deku Tree, etc. I'd seriously love my own Hero of Time though. That'd be pimp.

**NOTES: **I honestly don't know if there's another LoZ in the works; I hope there is, that would make me so happy, even though I am Wii-less. Um…I've never written an LoZ fanfic before, but I've been stewing this idea for quite some time, so I hope it's developed enough. I'd love to send this whole concept to Nintendo though, and see if they like it. I can dream.

* * *

_**1 – The Fall of Hyrule Castle**_

Jiro wasn't sure he was going the right way, but he knew where he had to go. His breath whistled painfully in and out of his hot, dry throat as he fled along the cobblestone streets. _The castle! Must fall back and protect the royal family! _The muscles in his legs protested loudly from the overexertion but he ignored them and plowed through a loose-knit collection of terrified citizens who were clutching bundles to their chests or at their sides.

"Don't just stand there!" he yelled back over his shoulder. "Get out of here!" And he tucked his head down and somehow made himself go faster. _Faster…faster! Fly, Jiro! You've got to FLY!_ Harder still he pushed himself. His vision blurred and hazed as the backstreet emptied out into the main square of Hyrule Castle Town. There were people _everywhere_; many were running, most were screaming, and some were just standing there and sobbing. Children cried desperately for their mothers and fathers and husbands yelled for wives and friends cried for each other through the tangle. The exodus was blocking up the main entrance of the town and he really did want to stay and help everyone—he could see some of his fellow soldiers shouting over the roar of the crowd, urging people to be calm and for families to stick together and not to worry about possessions but only their own lives—but he couldn't be held back. He _had _to be at the castle, no matter what.

He turned to the northern sector and wove his way as quickly as he could through the throngs of people. "Please," he gasped. "Excuse me. Please…please!" He struggled, fought his way against the current of bodies, finally dragging himself up onto the grand steps that led to the castle proper. He took an instant to gasp for air and a flicker of fire caught his eye; it was coming from the front gate. "What is…?"

An enormous explosion rocked the town's main entrance and the force of it threw Jiro back onto the marble steps. A flaming mushroom cloud billowed up into the dark midnight sky and terrified and pain-filled screams echoed through the air. People began to swarm away from the gate, fleeing to the streets. Jiro scrambled to his feet and looked toward the ravaged stone walls and guardposts, painted with soot and thick blood. His stomach twisted and he fought to hold back the sour bile rising in his throat. Excited cheers and shrill battle cries rose up over the terrified scramble of the Hylians and the tooth-rattling _clackity-clackity_ of a horse's hooves on stone began in earnest. The Gerudo had breached the last line of defense.

Jiro shot to his feet and flew toward the castle gates, waving his arms at the other soldiers falling back through it. "Wait for me! Don't close it!" he gasped. Whipping noises pierced through the air and a barrage of sharpened, poison-tipped arrows rained down from the sky overhead. More people screamed. Two guards in front of him fell over with twin death cries. An arrow found the meat of his right calf, another in his left shoulder and instantly he felt the cold poison flood into his system; he now had fifteen minutes to live, if that. The knowledge of his sealed fate drove him harder, faster than ever before. He blew past the guards still fighting to shut the royal gates as another volley of poison arrows descended upon them. He forced himself to ignore the calls of help from his comrades as they lay dying or as they fought to drag the heavy gate closed—nothing but the queen mattered now. And the princess.

He stumbled into the courtyard, his body already numb and losing its responsiveness. His vision doubled and blurred. He was knocked back and forth between the frenzied castle servants as they poured out of the castle doors and into the courtyard where they idled, because death was coming from ahead of them and waiting for them behind. Jiro tore his way through the crowd and up the smaller steps and fell into the cool torch-lit chamber of the castle foyer. Here, more soldiers than he could count readied themselves for battle, lining every walkway, every hall, every staircase. A tight knit of them surrounded a figure descending the curving staircase to the left of him, and he saw the magic-endowed golden armor of the royal family. It was the king, descending to the frontmost position to battle with his soldiers. Jiro's eyes automatically swung back up to the golden doors of the throne room where he saw the queen—the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on—clutching a silk-wrapped bundle tightly to her breast. The king of Hyrule came to rest at the bottom of the staircase, his storm gray eyes scanning the soldiers he had left for one final defensive stand. They stood waiting for his command, silent and at the ready. The king moved to the front—presumably to speak to his soldiers—and Jiro ignored him, taking the right-hand staircase up toward the throne room and the queen. She saw him coming from the corner of her eye and slipped back into the dark throne room to wait. He was ignored by the soldiers who were paying attention to the king, who had begun to talk:

"Tonight, we are fighting to preserve the Hylian's way of life…"

Jiro fell into the chamber behind the golden doors, barking his hands and knees painfully against the cold marble. A gentle touch slid across his sweaty brow and he lifted his eyes, past the white lace, the sapphire blue silk, the cascade of skirts and the bundle in her arms to look into the queen's gentle sky blue stare.

"Jiro," she spoke his name and he shuddered just to hear her voice. He rose as best he could, but his left side felt as if it were made of lead and his right leg refused to hold up his weight. He tumbled against her and she held him up, staring at the arrow lodged into his shoulder. He reached instantly with his right hand to tear it out of his flesh; if it displeased her to look at, he would be rid of it, no matter how painful. "No, don't," she commanded and his hand abruptly fell.

"I am sorry…" he gasped for breath which seemed to be leaving him. "I wanted…to see you…" Her blue eyes widened and became rimmed with tears. "Please…don't cry. That was not my intention…" his hand—which felt so very heavy—touched her cheek and his thumb brushed away the first of her tears. "Your Majesty, please…command me. I want to die…not fulfilling my duty as a knight…but doing what my love wishes of me." She opened her mouth to say something and he shook his head. "For years, I have loved you from afar…and tonight, I can cross that distance in an instant…" He swayed unsteadily, almost knocking them both over. The queen gave a little cry and tightened her grip on both him and her baby. His dulling eyes locked onto hers again. "Your husband is fighting…your soldiers are fighting…but I can fight no longer," he gestured weakly to the arrows in his body. "Their poison…it weakens me. Soon, I will be of no use to anyone, most of all you… Please," he begged breathlessly, "please…tell me what you wish of me…so I may die in peace."

The queen bit her lip. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, they were calm and composed, but still red and wet. "Take my only child," she said, holding up the bundle between them, "and hide her away. Take her from this doomed place. And when you die, tie your spirit to her, so that you may protect her for always."

His weak and trembling hands slid over hers. They steadied as they took the baby, drifting off to sleep, in their grasp. He tucked the bundle gently into the fold of his right arm and lifted himself fully upright, saluting the queen with his left. "I will do as her majesty asks of me," he promised, and turned toward the half-open throne room doors.

"Jiro," she called to him. He stopped, swaying just the slightest bit. "I… Thank you…"

"There's no need to thank me…" he pushed open the golden door all the way, revealing an empty hallway—the king and his soldiers had marched off into battle. "I want to do this," he explained. "I want to…"

With those final words, Jiro limped down the staircase, using the thick banister for support. The queen watched him descend and disappear into a small wooden door that lead toward the servant's quarters. Slowly, she tore her gaze away from the door and went back into the throne room, striding quickly, trying to push both Jiro and her child from her mind.

There was something she had to do.


	2. The Will of the Queen

_**2 – The Will of the Queen**_

The queen looked up from her prayers. The three golden statues of the legendary goddesses glimmered in the torch light radiating from the many lit brackets mounted on the marble walls. Before her, the grand Master Sword shone with an ethereal light. Its elegant blade drew an invisible line in the air around it, making half of the chamber become that of another place, another realm. A voice echoed up from this other side, addressing her:

_Are you sure this is what you wish upon your land?_

"Yes, I am sure," she answered unhesitantly.

_Your people will be subjected to years of sadness and slavery._

"I am aware of the consequence of my decision."

_Why would you bring this fate upon your own people?_

"Because," she said, "I feel Ganon cannot be vanquished without the power of the Triforce."

_You are aware that upon splitting the Triforce, one piece will become his._

"Yes."

_I cannot understand your reasoning._

"Ganon comes from a distant land, where ancient magics lay buried beneath the sands. Those same ancient magics are what opened the path to the Sacred Realm once before, and all of our lands were forced to unite in order to drive the Evil King back to the desert." She frowned. "If I do not do this, he will simply find a way to open the Sacred Realm and invade it, and poison it with his hatred. I would rather give him what he wants and guarantee my people a fighting chance at restoring Hyrule to its former glory later on. Does this make sense to you?"

_You are speaking of things that have yet to happen. Not even the goddesses are sure of events from the future. Yet you gamble your people's lives on feelings and speculation? You are a young and naïve queen; not all things have an outcome or closure._

"But for every action one does, there is an equal reaction," she argued. "Ganon's evil _will_ be countered by a great force of good. I _know _this."

_How can you be so certain?_

"…because my daughter still lives." She thought of Jiro and smiled. A loud and hollow _thump_ broke her out of the meditation. The illusion of the two merged realms shattered and the queen was alone again. She stood with the Master Sword behind her, its radiant glow fading to a slight pulsating. The three crystalline orbs tucked into the pure silver blade glinted—red, green, and blue—and phased away, leaving three perfect circles in the shining blade near the cobalt blue hilt. The glory of the goddess statues dulled out, and the stone door behind her, bearing the mark of the Sacred Realm, slid open. Another _thump_ echoed over the grating of stone sliding against stone, followed by a _thud. _The queen waited.

She didn't have to wait long. An explosion shook the chamber, making the queen fight for balance and a few of the torches shake themselves out. Dust from the ceiling and soot and embers from the brackets rained down as another _thump_ came, sounding much closer than before. A few more of them, and one more explosion—which sent her to the floor with a cry—and she was face to face with a swarm of red-haired women with spears. She rose, dusting the rubble from her dress as they piled into the hidden chamber and surrounded her, their spears jabbing impatiently at her flesh. She swallowed back her cries of pain and waited. The dark, tall figure of Ganon slid into the room, taking up nearly the entire entrance with his height and broadness. She refused to quail; she stood straighter, ignoring the spear jabs, locking her blue eyes with his red ones. He glanced around the chamber and met her stare, his dirty yellow teeth clenched into what she could only assume was a smile.

"Ah, my queen," he hissed. "I see you've gotten everything ready for me."

"I have done nothing for you, Ganon," she spat back. "I have done all I can for my people."

"I'm sure your people would agree, if there were any of them still alive," he snickered and some of the female soldiers laughed with him.

"The Goddesses Triforce shall never be yours," she swore.

"We shall see," he shrugged. And then he took his great sword from his back and ran her through with it.

"Zelda…" she whispered and died. Ganon shook her body off his sword and reattached it to his back, striding over her slumped form and into the stone chamber beyond the first, where the golden triangle of legends hung suspended in the air, spinning slowly. He reached for it, his grin growing wider. An invisible force stopped his hand inches from its golden surface. The triangle shone brilliantly, blinding him, making him cry out and take a step back. When he looked again, only one piece of the triangle sat in the air before him, waiting. He growled impatiently and snatched it from the air, feeling its immense power flow through him: the Triforce of Power.

"Blast," he swore and came back out into the first chamber where his soldiers stared at him curiously. "You!" he pointed at one of them. "Bring the old woman to me at once!" She saluted him hastily and nearly tripped over herself trying to fly out of the chamber. Ganon's eye fell on the blue-handled, silver bladed sword in the stone pedestal on his left. The Master Sword. He reached for it.

"I wouldn't touch that, if I were you," an old, shaky voice warned. He pulled himself away from it and watched as the old witch woman was led into the room by the soldier on horseback. The woman's wrinkled face scowled at him. "It would give you a very nasty shock."

"Old woman, why did I receive only one triangle?" he held it up and waved it at her so she could see only the single triangle had stayed. "I thought you said I could get all three here."

"It was this woman's fault," the old Gerudo woman gestured to the dead queen's body on the floor by the sword's pedestal. "She beseeched the goddesses to split the Triforce in three upon your touch."

"You could have told me that earlier," he growled at her.

"She has also made it so that the other two pieces remain hidden from you until their owners acknowledge their existence," she continued. "It can be tomorrow, or it can be thirty years from now, depending on who she tied their powers to."

"That bitch," he snarled, looking down and wishing he could kill her again. "What can I do to find them?"

"Absolutely nothing," the old woman shook her head. "You can only wait."

"Like hell I will," Ganon spat.


End file.
